Jodi

Summer Vacation, Day 41: Birthday Boy!

/ J. Thorp / 2 Comments

Eight years ago yesterday, on her birthday, Jodi had an OB appointment, and the doctor had an announcement – the baby in her belly was bulking up fast and needed to come out. We were a only few days overdue, but all her measurements suggested that whoever was in there seemed content to simply expand. The doctor would induce the next day.

We postponed celebrating her birthday until after Gabe’s birth. He was 11 pounds 11 ounces, dwarfing his big brother’s substantial birth weight of 9-9. (Emma, incidentally, weighed a petite 9-5; Trevor frightened the hospital staff at 12-2.)

He’s eight. I can hardly believe how the time passes. Almost makes me want to run.

Summer Vacation, Day 39: Non-Stop Fun

/ J. Thorp / 1 Comment

Gabe turns eight on Monday, so last night he hosted a sleep-over birthday party. Bren went to a friend’s house, so it was our Gabe and his friends Gabe A., Jack, and Cole, plus Emma and Trevor. The boys were awake until around 1 a.m., and rose around 7. Ah, to have that youthful energy!

They left around 9:30, Bren came home around 10, and Bren, Gabe and I left at 10:15 for kung-fu class in St. Paul. (This is the first weekend in the last five or six that we’ve made it.) Then home again for lunch, then Emma and I left to get the oil changed in the Golf and finish birthday shopping for Jodi – hers is tomorrow. Returned from that in time to get ready for Bren’s final baseball game. They lost a great game tonight, 10-8. Well done, Radiators – kudos on a great season! Got home around 8 for supper; showers and baths and clean-up until right about now – quarter to 10 p.m.

Tomorrow looks like church, a special brunch for Jodi, gifts, yard work (a ton!), then a cookout at a friends place. Still haven’t gone fishin’. Still having a pretty good time.

Summer Vacation, Day 29: An Unexpected Blessing

/ J. Thorp / Leave a comment

Unbeknownst to me, downtown Rapid City is hosting a deeply moving and inspiring exhibit, A Blessing to One Another: Pope John Paul II and the Jewish People. The exhibit includes photos, videos and artifacts from Karol Wojtyla’s childhood through his papacy and death, tracing his strong ties to, and profound affection for, the Jewish people in his native Poland and throughout the world.

Jodi and I took Brendan and Gabe to see it today. It cost $5 for the family, and the tickets are good for duration of the display (through August 13). It’s very content-rich – you probably should visit it more than once to take it all in, especially the videos. Some of the video interview material from the Holocaust is a bit much for children, but it’s easily avoided. Reading aloud to the boys, my voice broke often – it’s hard to imagine such cruelty and compassion among neighbors and neighboring countries.

But the lasting message is one of peace, understanding, and common humanity that transcends race or religion. Well worth $5, my friends. The exhibit has been there since May 2, and attendance has been low. If you have the chance, go.

Meditation on the Unity of All Things

/ J. Thorp / 4 Comments

So we’re eating dinner as a family, a rice, broccoli and cheddar concoction with beef. Quite tasty – even the kids seemed to enjoy it! Jodi and I were taking turns asking the kids what they liked best. Gabe is a broccoli hound, so of course, he said the green stuff.

“Gabe,” I said, “do you like rice, too?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“Cheese?”

“Yeah.”

“What about dirt and sunshine?”

Gabe twisted his face into a question mark. “Huh?”

“Isn’t that what broccoli is? Broccoli takes nutrients from dirt and energy from the sun to grow – so aren’t you eating dirt and sunshine?”

Gabe grinned. “Yeah!”

I turned to Brendan. “And it’s that way with all plants. So if cows eat plants, isn’t beef dirt and sunshine, too?”

“Yup!” said Brendan.

“And if we eat broccoli and beef, aren’t we also dirt and sunshine?”

And then I stopped. I was acting silly, of course. But then I looked at Bren and Gabe laughing together. And at Trevor, smiling back at me.

Dirt and sunshine.

And the next morning, I watched Emma walking to the bus in her girlie clothes and grubby shoes …

And me. And you, even.

What are any of us except dirt and sunshine?